Using the Bible in public address
by Ozora Stearns Davis
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Excerpt:
This manual has been prepared especially for the guidance of those who are called upon to present Christian truth in public addresses to various groups of hearers. The Bible always has been the great reservoir of Christian truth. That distinct message, which has come to be known as the Gospel, is contained in its first expression in the Bible. The Old Testament is the necessary background for the New Testament; the message is gathered up in the fact of Jesus Christ. The Christian speaker will use truth derived from other sources also. He will go to the treasure-houses of literature and history; he will use the wealth of the common life of which he is a part. Nevertheless, he will turn most frequently and with greatest joy and satisfaction to the Bible as the source of the material for the public presentation of the good news of a new life in Jesus Christ. Therefore, it becomes a matter of supreme importance that everyone who is called upon to announce in any form the Christian message should know not only what the Bible says about it, but how to use its statements in the various forms of public address. This is not merely a matter of intellectual curiosity; it is a practical problem of the greatest moment. The Gospel is supremely important; its influence upon individual and social life is radical and transforming; therefore, to know what it is, how it was stated at the beginning, how it may be expressed now, is an imperative necessity to every Christian worker.
II. The Variety Of Material In The Bible
The range and richness of materials in the Bible appear with fresh beauty as we use it in public addresses. It begins with ancient stories and songs. Here is a rich unfolding history in which giant figures appear. We listen to the poets who describe and explain every aspect of the spiritual life; we follow the prophets as they interpret the spiritual meaning of the perplexing life of their time and declare that inevitable effects must follow the causes which they define; we trace the growing yearning for a Saviour, and we see Jesus of Nazareth reveal, in the terms of a human life, the nature and the will of God; we see him become the Christ of the ages; we study the new life that is created through contact with him; we stand at the beginning of the statement of Christian truths in reasoned form; we look at the superb vision of a city of God coming into earthly forms with heavenly power and blessing.
No Christian worker can lay hold on this variety of the truth in the Bible without feeling a new thrill and ambition. We want to know these varied and beautiful and necessary subjects which the Bible contains. We want to know how to present them to others with the same clearness and joy that we have found in our study. The variety and beauty of the Bible are a constant challenge to us to study it, to love it, and to teach it.
III. The Vital Character Of The Bible
A fundamental guiding principle for our study is furnished by the fact that the Bible is the outgrowth of life, that it is meant for life, and that nothing less than life is adequate to interpret it.
First, the Bible came out of life. Back of each book in the Bible lay the experiences of real men and women. "The Bible was life before it was literature." The Bible is not the work of mere literary craftsmen. The authors of the Bible had lived in definite relations with God and their fellowmen. The results of these actual experiences they reported. Thus life was first, and the Bible came out of it.
Again, the truth in the Bible is meant for life. The purpose of these books is to enrich and ennoble living men and women today by instructing and encouraging them to seek those experiences with God and with one another that the writers of the Bible enjoyed. The greatest honor that can be given the Bible is to make it a guide for daily life now.
